Wall of Fame

Every year we are more and more humbled by the outpouring of selfless, generous, loving and gracious individuals that we are fortunate to partner with at our annual AZ Mission of Mercy event. Check out the Volunteer Wall of Fame!

Dates/Times

In general, most CADS MOM positions will follow the schedule below. Some areas will require that volunteers come in earlier or later. Dates/Times may change as we continue to plan for and figure out the logistics of the clinic.

Thursday, December 7th, 10 am – 5 pm: Clinic Set Up (no patients)

Friday, December 8th, 6 am – 6 pm: Dental Clinic (patients)

Saturday, December 9th, 6 am – 6 pm: Dental Clinic (patients)

Saturday, December 9th, 5 – 9 pm: Clinic Tear Down (no patients)

Please read the Protocols that are applicable to your volunteer position.

All clinical volunteers are required to be licensed by the State of Arizona and must have a current, active Arizona license to practice. License numbers will be requested on the volunteer registration form. Anyone involved directly with patient care will be required to be up to date on their Hepatitis vaccines. The CADS MOM event will maintain universal infection control practices at all times. All clinical individuals involved in patient treatment must carry the appropriate malpractice insurance coverage, and ensure that the coverage allows you to participate in a volunteer treatment event.

If you are coming from out-of-state, check with your liability carrier. Arizona Law does provide a qualified immunity from liability for healthcare professionals who provide free services for charitable organizations. For those individuals covered under the CNA/Professional Protector Plan, your professional liability coverage extends to service providers anywhere in the United States.

No. CADS MOM has many wonderful opportunities for students, but treating patients is not allowed even under supervision. This event will be a great learning opportunity and we encourage students to volunteer in postitions where they can interact with patients – dental triage, patient education, post op instructions, exit interviews, or escorting patients.

Yes! We need many different types of volunteers – dentists, assistants, hygienists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, students, people from the community, etc. We could use all of your help! There will be 100 dental chairs in use, so we’ll need to have them filled, at all times, with dental care professionals. That leaves around 500 available positions for ‘day of’ behind the scenes help (registration, routing, food service, etc.), help with actual patient care, and help with translation and patient escorts. Patients will never be left alone, so we need a lot of people from the community to help us escort the patient between departments as they are preparing for treatment.

100 portable dental chairs, lights and units will be set up to treat patients. The chairs will recline and the units will have access to water and suction. Given space restraints at CADS MOM, each dentist will be able to have one dental assistant. If a dentist brings more than one assistant, any extra assistants will be assigned to work elsewhere in the clinic. As patients register at CADS MOM, they will be asked to complete a form for basic demographic information and their health history. The form will be used for triage and to record patient treatment information. Patients will be treated based on their most urgent needs, with infection control and pain elimination as the number one CADS MOM priority. Dentists working in triage will be responsible for assessing and prioritizing patients’ treatment needs.

Dental instruments will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own, just make sure that everything is CLEARLY labeled with your name. Pediatric dentists – safety kits will not be provided, so you should bring your own. Hygienist – we will have 20 cavitrons available. If you would like to bring your own, clearly labeled cavitron, we will re-calibrate it for you at the conclusion of your shift.

Personal Dental Instruments: If you wish to bring your own dental stools and other equipment, you may set-up your operatory on Thursday, December 10, at the clinic site between 3:00 pm and 4:30 pm. Please be sure all equipment brought to the clinic is CLEARLY labeled. The sterilization unit has procedures to separately handle your personal instruments.

If you are volunteering on both Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12, you may leave your equipment by your chair.

Clinicians should plan to bring protective eye wear, face shield and any other personal protective equipment you use in your office. Headlamps and extra batteries are also recommended to increase visibility. Ultra Light Optics is an event sponsor. They will have headlamps and loupes available for volunteers to borrow. You will need to provide your credit card number in order to borrow equipment.

A disposable gown, masks and gloves will be provided. Instruments and supplies will be also be provided but if you have favorites you may wish to bring your own instruments and supplies, just make sure they are very CLEARLY labeled. A very limited supply of curing lights will be available, so you may want to consider bringing your own (please label it). We also suggest that assistants bring a stool as CADS MOM is unable to provide these for assistants.

One chairside stool will be provided for each dental chair. It is intended for the dentist to use during treatment. Assistants who want a chairside stool should bring their own, CLEARLY labeled with their name.

You are welcome to bring your assistant, but they must register individually. There is an area on the registration form that allows you and your assistant to name each other in order to work together. Dentists are encouraged to have their entire office register. This is a great opportunity to volunteer as a team. We have plenty of opportunities for everyone in the office to help. Dentists who are not paired with their own assistant will be provided an assistant to work with.

All volunteers will be given a CADS MOM T-shirt and are required to wear it during the clinic. Disposable gowns will be provided for clinical volunteers for infection control purposes. Typical dress for dental personnel is scrubs, or if you choose not to wear scrubs, dress casually and comfortably. Remember to wear comfortable and supportive, closed-toed shoes. The Coliseum floor is concrete.

Volunteers can eat meals and take breaks in a designated area where food, beverages and water will be provided. Please do not eat or drink in front of patients. Everyone should plan to eat or drink in the designated volunteer break room.

You can pick up your packet at the beginning of your first volunteer shift or at the orientation dinner. We will have a volunteer registration counter set-up (follow the signs once you arrive at Coliseum) for the duration of the clinic.

Patients who are in pain can have an accompanying infection. The CADS MOM does not want anyone to wait until the free dental clinic event to seek critical dental or medical attention as this could lead to more serious consequences. We hope to be able to treat more than 2,000 patients, there’s still a risk volunteers won’t be able to see everyone waiting in line for care. However, every attempt will be made to care for those who are present.

Absolutely! A project of this magnitude requires nearly $300,000 in tax-deductible donations and in-kind contributions to cover expenses for dental equipment and facility rentals, supplies, pharmaceuticals and food costs. Consider donating money or in-kind products or services. Your contribution, no matter the amount, will make a difference in treating thousands of patients. Please visit the donation page for more information.